A New London man accused of fatally stabbing his fiancée, Lynda Sanon, at his Crystal Avenue apartment on March 19 made his first appearance today in the court where major crimes are tried.

Evens St. Hilaire, 31, is charged with murder and is being held in lieu of $1 million bond at the Corrigan-Radgowski Correctional Institution. During his brief court appearance this morning, Judge Patrick J. Clifford appointed Kevin C. Barrs, a public defender, to represent St. Hilaire and continued the case to April 19.

As a defendant in a murder case, St. Hilaire is entitled to a probable cause hearing within 60 days of his arrest. He will be discussing with his attorney whether to waive a hearing and enter a plea or compel the state to prove at a hearing that it has enough evidence to prosecute him.

St. Hilaire, who worked as a dealer at Mohegan Sun, told police he had been engaged to marry Sanon, a 25-year-old medical assistant from Wallingford who had a 2-year-old daughter. He said their relationship had become strained and they fought when she went to his apartment. He said Sanon threatened to harm herself by jumping out the window. He said she took a knife from a dresser drawer and raised it toward him and that he felt threatened. He said he grabbed the knife and stabbed Sanon in the neck and throat.

Sanon died from a stab wound to the throat, according to the state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, which ruled her death a homicide.